With NFL preseason starting this week, it’s time to get off the bench and start making sure your restaurant and bar area are ready for football season! People coming in to watch football have different eating habits during the game and tend to stay longer than your average guest. Here are some tips to prepare for your new Thursday through Monday guests for this season’s games.

Game time specials

When it comes to watching football, beer and food are fan favorites. Build a special game time menu with winning deals on sharable foods and draft beers. Keep this menu simple. Offer domestic pitchers at a great price and pair it with a handful of popular appetizers that people will pick on throughout the games. Things like nachos, potato skins, cheese sticks, and wings are always a hit.

Stock up on food and alcohol

Since you’re expecting an influx of hungry and thirsty customers to come in during game time, make sure your deliveries match your expectations. Prepare to have extra orders of popular game time items and the same for popular game time drinks. If you decide to have game time specials, definitely make sure you have plenty of those items in the inventory so you don’t run out of food during the game.

Large HD televisions

Part of watching the big game out is having a large high definition television (or several) to gawk at. The bigger THE BETTER! Making sure your customers have a clear view of their desired games will keep them coming back week after week and season after season. Once you have all of your TV’s in place, make sure you have the Sunday ticket and access to all of the season’s games.

Extra staff

It’s time to beef up your roster. During games have more people on the schedule to come in than you would during the off season. Your servers will be overwhelmed if they are too slammed to handle the influx of customers and this may hurt business in the long run if customers aren’t having a positive experiences during the games.

Be ready for take-out orders

Not only will you see an influx of customers dining in and watching the games at the bar, but you will also see a larger number of take-out orders for people who want your delicious offerings but would prefer to watch the games at home. Make sure your to-go staff is prepared and on their A-game for this spike in customers.

Promote

Make sure you promote that your business is football-ready and fan-friendly. Let people know through ads and social media that it’s the cant miss destination for NFL and college football. Word of mouth travels fast online so leave a space on your page where customers can leave you great reviews.

There may be no other industry where the customer experience is so important as it is for restaurants.  Entertaining your guests creates memories, loyal customers and can increase restaurant profits. Do you need funding to help accomplish some of these suggestions? We can help with a merchant cash advance from Quikstone Capital Solutions.